The need to minimize the amount of time taken by a user of a computer application to complete a given transaction has been an ongoing problem for organizations everywhere. Quicker completion of transactions means lowers expenses for an enterprise since a user can accomplish more operations per unit of time, which indicates increased productivity and/or efficiency.
A transaction may be defined as a series of discrete tasks. Using this definition, the time taken to complete a transaction may include the total amount of time taken by the user to complete all individual tasks plus transition times between each of the tasks. A transition time may be measured as the time between two subsequent tasks. For example, a transition time may include a graphical user interface (GUI) element (e.g., UI window) refresh and/or user-related delays (e.g., mental preparation, selecting an appropriate next option, etc.).
Current approaches for improving computing-related transaction efficiency generally focus on reducing the time taken for individual task, while largely ignoring the issue of transition times. Hence, such approaches do little to induce the user to recall the objectives of the next task and/or to optimize the application for transition between tasks.
Accordingly, a need exists for improved methods, systems, and computer readable media for generating a visual overlay.